Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, alongside the Humane Society of the United States President and CEO Wayne Pacelle, headed to Congress on Tuesday in support of legislation that would penalize attending or financing animal fighting events. Vick, who served an 18-month prison sentence after being convicted of dog-fighting charges in 2007, claims his experience has influenced him to want to educate inner city youth about the cruelty of animal fighting. “There's so much more you could be doing with your time, so many animals that could be raised in a better household to be used as pets and have a happy home instead of being used for a pointless activity,” Vick said. “It took for me to go through what I went through to understand the magnitude of the entire situation.” The HSUS agreed to work with Vick to progress the anti-dogfighting campaign because of his potential “to reach the estimated 100,000 participants in urban street dogfighting.” The organization claims that Vick has “apologized and acknowledged the suffering he caused” and that he has “expressed his remorse and his desire to help more animals that he harmed.” The bill, H.R. 2492, called the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act will impose up to a one-year prison sentence for spectators of animal fighting if passed. Sponsors of the bill claim it will help close loopholes in current animal fighting laws and will increase the severity and frequency of penalties for those involved. BM
